Barcelona will not be allowed to sign any players in 2015 after their appeal against a transfer ban was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The Spanish club was handed a 14-month ban in April after being found guilty of breaching Fifa’s rules on the transfer of players aged under 18.
Fifa rejected an appeal in August but the pending appeal to Cas allowed Barca to sign players including Luis Suarez.
The players concerned in the infringement of Fifa rules were registered and participated in competitions with Barcelona between 2009 and 2013.
Cas said: “The panel found in particular that FC Barcelona had breached the rules regarding the protection of minors and the registration of minors attending football academies.
“Accordingly, the Fifa decision is confirmed in full and the sanction remains in force.
Barca went on a summer spending spree this year while the suspension went on hold during the appeals process, splashing out more than 150m euros (£117.5m) on Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Thomas Vermaelen, Claudio Bravo, Jeremy Mathieu and Alen Halilovic.
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